


Agreste Twin AU

by xsmith



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Twin AU, this will be longer than i thought
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:49:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26111410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsmith/pseuds/xsmith
Summary: Adrien and Felix were happy. They had their parents, and they had money, and if they were a little lonely sometimes they still had each other, and that was enough. It was all they had ever needed.The Agreste's had twins. This changes things.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unoriginal title is unoriginal. I couldn't think of anything else.
> 
> A few things before we get to the story.
> 
> 1 I am a slow writer so updates will not be fast. I aim to post a new chapter per month for now, but once my buffer runs out it may take longer.
> 
> 2 Felix is in this story. However my Felix has nothing to do with cannon Felix. I started writing this long before that insult to the fandom ever existed.
> 
> 3 I was inspired by a mix of edorazzi's twin AU on tumbler and imthepunchlord's Grumpy Chat here on AO3. If you haven't already seen them, go check them out!
> 
> 4 A huge thank you to my brothers for beta-ing each chapter and putting up with almost two years of my rambling while I figured out the plot.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

They were four months old, and they hated being separated. Being held by separate parents was OK, but only if they could see each other. Sleep time was spent curled around one another. They belonged together. That was how it had always been.

-x-

They were one year old, and Mama was making a fuss. There were balloons, and brightly coloured paper things with toys inside. There were sandwiches and biscuits.

There was cake.

Adrien ate too much, and was sick. Felix took a bite out of the candle, and spat it out. It was a good day, and both boys fell asleep with smiles on their faces and new teddy bears in their arms.

-x-

They were two and a half, and Papa was Mad. They hadn't meant to make a mess of his work room, had only wanted a closer look at all the pretty ribbons and things. Now Papa was yelling, and Felix was on the verge of tears, and Adrien was very sorry. He wouldn't suggest coming in here again.

-x-

They were almost three, and their parents were excited. Papa was talking about a 'critic' who had taken an interest in his work.

“She was impressed with my work on the Spring Line, and Madam Bourgeois is notoriously hard to please. If she likes my submissions for the Fall Line it could make my career!”

Neither of the twins really understood what was going on, but Papa seemed happy, and Mama was smiling, so they smiled too. A year and a half later they moved into the biggest house they had ever seen.

-x-

They were five, and they liked Different Things. It was strange because they had always done everything together, but Felix had discovered books, and Adrien had discovered video games, and neither was particularly interested in the other's discovery.

“Who cares 'bout reading? S'just staring at paper.”

“Who cares 'bout dumb games? S'just pressing buttons.”

After much discussion and a brief falling out (which lasted a record five hours) they agreed that liking Different Things might not be such a big deal. After all, the couch in their room was big enough for Felix to read on one end, while Adrien played his games on the other, so it wasn't as though much of anything really changed.

-x-

They were six and Mama introduced them to a 'friend'. Her name was Chloe and her Mama was Madam Bourgeois. Adrien wondered if she'd like to play one of his video games with him. Felix wondered when she'd go home.

“I don't like her,” he told Adrien when she left to go to the bathroom. “She's too loud, and pushy. If

she says 'ridicolus' one more time, I'm gonna smack her with my book.”

“Wow,” Adrien teased. “You really must not like her if you'd risk hurting one of your books.”

Felix looked down at the book he was holding, a slightly dog-eared paperback with a glossy cover. It was one of his favourites. “Well... maybe not _this_ one. Where did we put that dinosaur book you got for Christmas? That one was pretty big.”

When Chloe came back Adrien decided to drag her to the other side of the room to watch the new Pokemon movie. They left Felix to read his book in peace.

-x-

It was their first day of school, and Adrien was pushed off the climbing frame in the playground and broke his arm. It was only a small break, but he still screamed. Felix got in trouble for punching the boy who had pushed his brother, and both ended up crying all the way to the hospital. Father threatened to sue.

“I'm not sending them back to that place.” He told Mama later. “Of all the incompetent... we'll homeschool them. It'll be safer that way. Besides, we have money now, I'm sure it can't be that hard to find a decent tutor.”

-x-

They were seven, and Adrien finally had the cast off his arm, so Mother had signed them up for some 'activities'.

“They need some form of social interaction Gabriel.” She insisted. “Homeschooling the boys is all very well and good, but there are some things you can't learn properly without some hands on experience.”

The first week of activities was pretty packed. Mother said that later they could choose which things they wanted to keep doing, but for now they had to try everything. They reluctantly agreed.

At their Mother's encouragement they each tried a few different musical instruments. Adrien settled on piano (“Just like Father!”) and Felix asked to learn violin (“I've always liked the strings.”) and it was decided they would have their lessons at home. Another day was spent at the local community centre, trying out all the things they offered. Felix liked the pool, and Adrien favoured the climbing wall, and both wanted to come again sometime. Ballet and gymnastics, they both agreed, were cruel and unusual torture, and they never wanted to go near them again. Ice-skating was fun, but not something they wanted to do regularly. There was a sports club that met on Wednesdays that Adrien wanted to sign up for, but Felix gave it a pass. They both jumped at the chance to learn fencing.

“Sword fighting! Real sword fighting!”

“This is gonna be so cool!”

Mother shook her head and smiled. Boys will be boys...

-x-

They were eight, and their Father wanted them to model for his new children's line. Mother wasn't so sure it was a good idea.

“You know I support you in your career, and I'm more than happy to do a little modelling now and then, but bringing the boys into it? I don't know Gabriel.”

“I'm not suggesting we take them to an agency, they would be attached directly to my label. Besides, success in fashion can be such a fickle thing. If they do this now, and we put half of what they earn away for them, then even if my career crashes and burns they will have that money to fall back on when they grow up.”

“It's not the money I'm worried about...”

Mother and Father spent several days debating back and forth, occasionally stopping to ask the twins' opinion on something. Eventually it was decided that they would do the modelling, but only for pictures. There would be no videos or live events until they were at least fourteen, and their health and weight would be strictly monitored. At the first sign the the modelling was having an adverse effect on either of them, it would stop. For both of them.

For their part the twins were just happy the argument was over. They hadn't liked seeing their parents fighting over them like that. Besides, putting away _half_ of their wages meant they still had half to _spend_ and just think how many books/games/movies/CDs they could buy...

-x-

They were ten, and they were getting their own bedrooms.

“It's not as though we're lacking in space for it,” Father grumbled. “And maybe this way you'll finally learn to sleep in your own beds.”

“You can decorate however you want.” Mother told them with a smile. “We've hired an interior designer, so just tell him what you want and he'll make it happen.”

After much debate (and yelling, and name-calling, and a twenty minute time out) it was decided that Adrien would stay in their current bedroom, and Felix would be moved to the empty room on the other side of their walk-in closet.

“But we have to add a door from my room too!”

“Yeah! Our rooms can be connected by the closet!”

“We're already adding a bathroom to that side,” Mother soothed when Father looked like he might object. “Adding another door won't be hard, and if it'll keep them happy...”

“Oh, all right.” Father sighed. “Just so long as they don't use it to sneak into each others rooms at night. I meant it about sleeping in their own beds, they're really too old to be sharing any more.”

-x-

They were twelve, and Adrien was bored.

“Hey Felix?”

Mother had gone on a trip, checking in with some charity thing over-seas. She had taken one such trip every year since they were nine, always to different places.

“Felix!”

Mother said that as a wealthy family they had an obligation to give something back to those less fortunate. It was important to remember the humble roots they had all been born to, before their father's success.

“Feeelliiixx...”

For Father's part, he was busy co-ordinating for his latest fashion show. Apparently the lead model was pregnant and had to be replaced.

“Felix I know you can hear me.”

The problem was, the show was in three days, and they were having trouble finding someone else the right size and colouring. It was starting to look like they would have to re-make the form-fitting dress to go on a taller model, which they really didn't have time for. Father was all but tearing his hair out over it.

“Felix, Felix, Felix, Felix.”

In an hour Adrien would be leaving for basketball, but for now there was nothing to do. He'd played all his games, he didn't feel like practising piano, the climbing wall wasn't even a challenge any more...

“Felix Felix Felix Felix FELIX!”

...and Felix was sat on the couch reading a book and _ignoring him._

“Hey Brick Wall!”

“Oh my goodness WHAT!”

There was a beat of silence, then Adrien doubled over laughing. “I, I can't believe you answered to that!” He gasped.

“I was answering to the nagging!”

“I called you Brick Wall, and you-”

“Shut up Adrien!” Felix snapped, flushing slightly. “What did you want anyway?”

“No idea. Oh wow, Brick Wall is now your new name.”

“No it's not!”

“I wonder if I could get the staff to call you that?”

“Don't you dare!”

“But it fits you so well!”

“Adrien if you don't drop this I swear-”

“Oh Fe, I am never letting you live this down.”

“Adrien!”

-x-

Adrien and Felix were happy. They had their parents, and they had money, and if they were a little lonely sometimes they still had each other, and that was enough. It was all they had ever needed.

But then something happened that changed everything.

They were thirteen when their world fell apart.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thanks to everyone who left kudos/subscribed ect. hope you like the new chapter.

It was March, and Mother was leaving on her annual trip. She stopped by Adrien's room to bid them farewell, kissing both boys on the forehead and promising to bring back something interesting for the family gallery. They said their goodbyes and she walked out the door, leaving them to enjoy the movie they were watching.

It bothered them later that they couldn't remember what they said to her. Had they told her they loved her? Wished her a safe trip? Or had they been so engrossed in The Avengers that they had tossed out a distracted “Bye!” and left it at that?

-x-

It was April, and Mother wasn't back yet. Father was trying (and failing) to hide how worried he was, pulling his phone out to call her every half-hour and frowning when he got no response. Two weeks past when she should have been home, Adrien gathered the courage to ask what had happened.

“Nothing has happened,” Father replied stiffly. “I'm sure there are any number of perfectly reasonable explanations for why she's late. She may be in a very remote area, with no phone or internet. Perhaps the weather is poor for travel, it doesn't mean anything that we can't reach her. She's fine, she'll be home soon.” He paused to give himself a shake. “So there's nothing to worry about. Now, I have work to do. If you need anything, inform Natalie.” And he strode away, leaving the twins to stare first at his retreating back, then at each other, their faces pale.

-x-

It was May, and Natalie had finally told them that Mother was missing. The authorities in Tibet had given up on finding her, but Father had hired several private investigators to continue the search. If the admission didn't feel like such a punch to the gut, they might have felt insulted.

“Did she think we hadn't figured it out?” Felix murmured, pretending to focus on the school work Natalie was 'distracting' them with.

“She's just doing her job Fe,” Adrien whispered back, “Father didn't want us to know, so she had to pretend it wasn't happening. We've been trying to do the same thing, for Father's sake.”

“Right,” Felix muttered. “Pretending.” He glared moodily at the passage he was supposed to be translating from mandarin and tried to ignore the aching hollow in his chest. How could Adrien fake being so calm?

-x-

It was June, and Felix wanted desperately to punch Adrien in his Perfect Model face. Three hours of listening to the idiot photographer prattle on about what expression he wanted from them, four outfit changes, and a 'nutritious' smoothie that smelled like someone else drank it already, and his brother was still smiling.

Storming into his room, it took all of Felix' self-control not to slam the door. How dare he? Mother was gone, probably dead by now, and Adrien just wondered around with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, like he was trying to pretend everything was fine _._ Everything wasn't fine! _Felix_ wasn't fine, and neither was Father. What right did Adrien have to act happy when their family was falling apart?

“Felix? You want to come watch a show with me? I think we have time for a few episodes of something before the tutor gets here, and it might be nice to be off our feet for a bit.”

Right, they had mandarin in an hour. The anger fizzled back down to numbness and Felix became aware of just how exhausted he was. It _would_ be nice to get off his feet for a while. But...

“No thanks, I thought I'd practice a bit. You know how Father gets if he thinks we're slacking off on music.”

“Right, OK. Well, if you change your mind...”

Felix didn't answer as he set up his sheet music on the stand and pulled out his violin. He just couldn't be around Adrien right now, it was too much. Setting bow to strings, Felix let his instrument sing and tried not to cry as the opening notes to his Mother's favourite opera filled the room.

-x-

It was July, and the house was too quiet. Father had taken to working out of his home office, and they might have been grateful to have him always nearby if they ever actually saw him. The halls that had once echoed with the happy chatter of a family of four now seemed cold and empty, and the twins had taken to spending as much time as they could hiding away in their rooms. Separately. Adrien had given up on getting Felix to do anything with him, figuring his brother just needed space – like Father seemed to right now. Thank goodness for Chloe, or he might have gone nuts sitting in his room by himself.

“Oh, Adrikins! It's so good to see you! I'm so sorry I haven't been around as much, school can be such a pain, you know? You're so lucky you've never had to go Adrikins! And now it's summer break, and we can spend every day together! Do you think your father will let you out to go shopping?”

“Probably not.” Adrien said apologetically. “He doesn't like us going out much lately.”

“Right, right. Speaking of us, where is Felibear? Usually he's at least come to say hi by now.”

“In his room. We're … not really speaking right now.”

Chole stared, and Adrien cringed. That had come out sounding a lot worse than it actually was. “It's not that he's mad at me or anything, he just needs some space you know? He's always taken after Father on things like this. It's not a big deal.”

“... If you're sure... Well then! What shall we do today? Shall we see if we can finally knock Felibear's high scores off the dance machine? Or we could watch something I suppose. Not Sailor Moon!”

“Hey, that's a classic!”

They eventually settled for watching a movie, some sappy romcom that Adrien barely paid attention to. He was sure that Felix would come around, he just needed space. Things would get better if he just gave it time.

-x-

It was August, and things hadn't gotten better. If anything it had gotten worse.

Father was still locked away in his office, Felix seemed to be doing his best to ignore his brother, and Adrien hadn't exchanged more than two sentences at a time with either of them for over a month. He'd had more meaningful interactions with Natalie than his own family! And Chloe's frequent visits weren't helping any more either, his friend spent too much of her time complaining about being cooped up in the mansion.

“Really Adrikins, if I wanted to sit around inside all summer I would have just stayed home!”

“I'm sorry Chloe, but you know I can't go out right now. Father wants-”

“Oh honestly Adrien! He can't keep you locked up forever! You need sunlight, you're starting to loose your tan!”

Adrien sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. It wasn't that he didn't want to go out, he'd been literally climbing the walls for days now, but Father just wanted to know he was safe. Surely, a good son wouldn't begrudge his father a little assurance? Felix seemed to be coping well enough.

… OK, so that wasn't strictly true, but he hadn't complained at least. He seemed perfectly content to stay locked in his room, study his lessons, read his books, and practise his violin. It seemed every time Adrien tried to talk to him he was either already engrossed in one of those activities, or about to start one. When was the last time Felix had taken time to do something fun? To watch a show, or play a game, or listen to music? Oh sure, he _played_ music all the time, but it had been weeks since Adrien heard any _recordings_ of the operas Mother and Felix loved so much.

When was the last time Father left the house? Or even just the home office? It had been over a month since he had so much as joined them for dinner. Did that mean this was normal? They'd been told all their lives that Felix was just like their father, so surely how one reacted was a good indication for the other. If Felix was just like Father and both had shut themselves away, that made it a pattern, right?

“It's not forever Chloe,” he said tiredly. “Father will calm down eventually. He just needs time.”

“You've been saying that for weeks Adrikins. Your Father needs time, Felix needs time, everything will get better if you just give it _time!_ They've had time! And I've had enough. School starts back up soon, and we haven't done _anything_ all summer!”

“At least you get to go to school, come September I'm _still_ going to be stuck here.” As the words left his mouth, Adrien realised with a sinking feeling that was all too likely to be true. There would be no family outings, no 'educational' field trips, no taking time to be kids and have fun, because Mother was the one who always organised those things.

_Don't think about it,_ he thought desperately. _If you don't think about it, it won't hurt._ But there were so many things nowadays that he wasn't thinking about; Mother's disappearance, Father's absence, Felix' distance. As annoying as he found Chloe's constant nagging to go out to be, he welcomed it as a distraction from the mess that his family had become.

“What if you weren't?”

“What?”

Chloe leaned in and smirked in a way that always made Adrien a little uncomfortable. He knew that expression. That was her 'I know I shouldn't do it, but you can't stop me, so I'm going to do it anyway' smirk.

“What if you weren't stuck here? What if you came to school with me?”

Adrien gaped. “Wha- Buh- You can't- How would that even work!? There's no way Father would allow-”

“Oh please Adrikins, you can't spend the rest of your life locked up just to appease your father's paranoia. I can have you enrolled by this weekend without Uncle Gabriel ever needing to know. Felix too, if you think he'd go for it.”

Adrien hesitated. Going along with one of Chloe's plots rarely ended well. He briefly wished that he and Felix weren't fighting so he could run the idea by him – his twin was so much better than him at picking through the flaws of a plan to patch the holes – but then reminded himself that he wasn't thinking about that. Besides, he had a brain of his own, he could think for himself.

He took a deep breath. “What exactly would I need to do?”

Chloe beamed.

-x-

It was September, and Adrien was gone. Not just gone, but run away to go to _school_ of all places. Without Felix. He didn't know what to feel. He felt numb.

Felix stepped into his brother's room and looked around quietly. Everything was exactly the same as it had been for the past three and a half years. There was Adrien's bed, Adrien's desk, Adrien's couch and TV, Adrien's games and climbing wall. Everything was Adrien's. Just Adrien's. It was strange now, to think they had shared all of it just a few months ago.

Giving the room a closer look, he could see the differences made by the past few months. Small changes, which he never would have counted as change if he'd been there to see them as they happened. A new music CD tucked into the desk, a new anime set by the TV, a small black box with red decorations on the coffee table, some new high scores on some of the arcade games. (But not the dance machine. That actually looked a bit dusty – had Ade even been using it?) Little things that didn't mean anything, but still meant so much, because he hadn't been there for them. Little things that built up to big things, because Adrien had run away to go to public school, and hadn't even told Felix he was doing it.

Natalie and the Gorilla would be back with him soon, or face his Father's wrath. Felix, of course would be able to claim ignorance either way. He wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not. On the one hand, Father couldn't be angry with him for aiding and abetting if he knew nothing about it. On the other hand, he'd known nothing about it.

He would have once. Just a few months ago Adrien would have told Felix every detail, and then Felix would have patiently explained to his dear brother exactly how much of a dumb idea it was. Because really, how did he think he was going to get away with this? He blamed Chloe for putting the idea in Adrien's head. He never would have dared to do it without _someone_ egging him on, and the girl never was very good at thinking through the consequences. On the upside, maybe Father would finally ban her from the house for being a bad influence.

Felix swallowed down the lump in his throat and tried to breathe normally. He was sick of crying, and he was tired of being at odds with Adrien. He wanted his brother back, his best friend, his twin. He'd hoped that with lessons starting back up after the summer, they'd have a chance to reconnect a little, even if only to talk about the work. So much for that plan. Clearly he'd have to be a little more pro-active, but what could he...

His eyes caught on the little black box he'd noticed on the coffee table. The design was odd, not something he recognised at all. Perhaps it was from one of the new anime Adrien had started watching in his absence. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

What would Adrien do if he came home and founds this missing? It was childish and petty, but right now he really didn't care. Adrien wanted to shut him out of his life? Felix would make it impossible to ignore him. He'd start with whatever this was... and then he'd see how much of the room he could clear out before Adrien exploded. He smirked to himself, pleased to have a plan. He gave Ade a week tops before everything went back to normal.

He tucked the box into his pocket and left to hide it in his own room.


	3. Chapter 3

The car ride home was silent. Adrien tried not to sulk, but it was a struggle. He'd skipped breakfast this morning so he could get out of the house undetected, and he somehow doubted anyone had thought to save the meal. Which meant no breakfast, no school, and probably no Chloe once Father found out she'd helped him. All that work for nothing.

He sighed as they parked the car and allowed himself to be ushered inside, toward the room where their lessons were usually held.

“I just need to check something in the office.” Natalie murmured at the door, leaving him to shuffle forward with slumped shoulders. Maybe if he hadn't stopped to help that man...

“So, how was school?”

Adrien looked up and scowled at Felix. His brother was already sat at the table, smirking. He sat down opposite him with a glare. “Did you tell them?”

“How could I have?” He asked, the picture of innocence. “I didn't even know you were leaving until you'd already gone.”

“Then how did they find out?”

Felix rolled his eyes. “You being missing from your room this morning might have been a clue.”

Adrien opened his mouth to retort that Natalie and Gorilla had shown up rather quickly for not having had warning, but Natalie chose that moment to return.

“Shall we get started?”

Adrien bit his tongue and sullenly reached for his books.

The rest of the morning was spent on their lessons. They ran through some maths, reviewed their English, and moved on to history by the time lunch drew close. Felix was ignoring Adrien as usual, so Adrien tried to ignore him too, but it wasn't easy. Felix may claim ignorance, but Adrien wasn't buying it, he looked far too smug to have had nothing to do with what happened this morning. Adrien knew things were strained, but he hadn't thought Felix would sell him out. It hurt.

Then Father appeared to scold Adrien. The first time they've seen him in over a week, and it's to tell him off. Of course.

“We can leave it there for today if you-”

Adrien barely heard Natalie as he ran from the room. He threw himself down on his bed with a frustrated groan. Stupid Felix and his stupid smirk, stupid Natalie, stupid everything! Of course she had told Father, why had he ever thought she wouldn't? Maybe if he hadn't turned back to help that old man... but he'd been taught to never turn his back on people who needed help, and no-one else was stopping. Who knew how long the poor man would have laid there, struggling to reach his cane? It hadn't cost Adrien anything to give him a hand up.

Well, except for his chance to go to school.

Stupid Felix.

He'd been looking forward to this so much, and he knew it had been a lot of work for Chloe to set it up for him. He hoped she wasn't too upset when he didn't make it. The girl was spoiled, and not always nice, but she had been one of his only friends for so long, and he hated to disappoint her.

Then again, everything else in his life was going wrong, why had he expected this to be any different? First Mother, then Father, then Felix... and now that she was going back to school Chloe would be leaving him too. Maybe it would be best if he just gave up and accepted it...

...What was that noise?

Eager for any distraction Adrien jumped up, ran for the front doors and threw them open. He was vaguely aware of Felix coming up behind him, but ignored it in favour of staring through the closed gate of their property. Why was there a police blockade outside?

“You're not seriously running _toward_ the all the noise and police sirens? Don't you have any sense of self-preservation? Close the door!”

“Are you seeing this?” Adrien asked in awe. “Because I think I might be hallucinating.”

The two stared up at the honest-to-goodness rock monster as it approached the police cars, then turned and slammed the doors shut as the police opened fire. There was a loud cry of “KIIIIMM!” and more crashing. As one, the twins turned and ran for a TV, and a news station.

What was going on?

-

Marinette was regretting her life choices. All of them. What had she been thinking? That thing was going to kill her, and then she'd be dead. Her parents would have to bury her, their only daughter, which would send them into depression, and they wouldn't be able to focus on baking, so their business would fail and they'd end up begging on the streets. And it would be all her fault! Why did she have to listen to the talking Bug-Mouse? Monsters and magic and villains and heroes, they belonged in cartoons and story books. They shouldn't be real. And yet, here she was, dressed in a red-with-black-spots bodysuit that covered everything from her neck down, but left nothing to the imagination, and preparing to do battle. If she hadn't been so terrified of her imminent death she would have been mortified to be out in public looking like this.

She just wanted to be a normal girl, with a normal life. Was that really so much to ask?

Judging by the monster bellowing in the face of a screaming Kim, she supposed it was.

“What are you waiting for, Super Red Bug?!” Her new friend, Alya, yelled up at her. “The world is watching you!”

Marinette bit her lip, took a breath, and straightened her spine. She could do this. She had to do this! They were counting on her! Taking a running jump, she threw her yoyo out, striking the golem on the head, hard, hoping to distract it. Hitting the ground in a roll, she looked up to see light coming from the cracks in the monster's body, and it got bigger. She gulped.

Clearly beating it into submission wasn't going to work. And now she had it's attention. What was she going to do? Maybe the partner Tikki had mentioned would have some ideas? But they weren't here yet, and Marinette wasn't sure that she could afford to wait. Maybe she should use her super power? Or was it too soon? She would only have five minutes to finish things after, but what other choice did she have? Tikki had said it would give her something she could use... It was worth a shot at least.

“Lucky Charm!”

Red light spun out from her yoyo, coalescing into...a wetsuit?!

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

-

“ _Uuh, Ladybug. Call me Ladybug.”_

“Ladybug,” Adrien breathed, eyes locked on the TV. “Wow, can you believe it Fe? A real live super hero.”

“What even happened at the end there?” Felix frowned. “That thing grabbed her, and then it just dropped her again.”

“I have no idea, but she's amazing.”

Felix glanced over at his brother, taking in his dopey expression, and wondered if it would be too soon to tease him about the obviously developing crush. On the one hand, it was practically his brotherly duty to give him a hard time over that kind of stuff. On the other, they had only just started talking again. Probably too soon. Shame.

“Do you think she'll show up a lot?”

“Probably as often at the bad guys do, that's how it always works on TV.”

“...Do you think we'll get to meet her?”

OK, too soon or not, he just couldn't resist. “Why?” He smirked. “You fancy her or something?”

Adrien went red. “Felix!”

The subsequent pillow fight/wrestling match had them both laughing and out of breath. Then the news began reporting people turning into statues of the 'stone being' that had been terrorising the city that day, and the smiles slipped off their faces.

“Guess it's not over yet.”

“...Guess that means we'll be seeing your girlfriend soon after all.”

Adrien hit him in the face with his pillow again.

-

Felix settled into bed that night with a contented smile. He hadn't talked to Adrien like that in months. Maybe he'd been worried about nothing, maybe they'd be OK after all.

Maybe he should put his brother's little box back before he had time to realise it was missing.

Ade didn't seem to have noticed yet that it was gone, and the last thing Felix wanted was for him to realise it _now_ and screw everything up again. He'd put it back in the morning, he dicided, while Adrien was taking his shower. No need to make a big deal out of it. Ade would never need to know.

He pulled the box out from under his bed, turning it over in his hands, and wondered what it could be from. He supposed he could just ask him tomorrow. It would be a good conversation starter.

No harm in taking a peek, right?

Felix cracked open the box, and caught sight of a black men's ring before being blinded by a glowing orb of light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick not to ask people not to swear in the comments. I like to share them with my family, and don't want my kids to see that kind of language. Thank you for understanding and enjoy the new chapter.

Plagg stretched and yawned. It was about time his new chosen decided to wake him up. He didn't mind the little sealed boxes Fu used to transport them individually, but it got really cramped in there, really quickly.

“What the-!”

He glanced down at his new human. Young, blond, shocked. Male? Probably male. He couldn't remember the name Master Fu had told him, but he thought it had been a boys name. Not like it really mattered. “Hi there, the name's Plagg.”

“You can talk!?”

Rude little brat. Of cause he could talk. “Just one of my many talents,” he said, looking around the room. So many books. What was this, a library? What was a bed doing in the library? “You got anything to eat? I'm starving!” Books were good, he decided. Books were expensive. Lots of books meant lots of money, and lots of money meant lots of cheese. Delicious, gooey, smelly cheese. Plagg could practically taste it already.

“No I don't have anything to eat, I- hey! Get back here!”

Another good thing about books, they didn't break easily, and made a very satisfying _thud_ when they landed on the floor. The bigger the book, the louder the thud, and with very little mess to clean up afterwords.

“Stop that!”

Yes, this place would do nicely as his new territory. Lots of cheese, endless entertainment (because knocking books off shelves never got old,) plenty of napping spots. The Guardian had chosen well.

“I said stop- What even are you?”

“I'm a kwami,” Plagg grinned, zipping over to look at something on top of a bookcase. “Hey, can you eat this?”

“Of course not, that's a- hey! Don't bite it!”

“Eww, you're right, you can't!” Plagg dodged the boys' grasping hand and darted toward a cabinet tucked into the corner next to the bed. “Ooh, what's that?” He asked, peering down at a small flat rectangle.

“You can't eat that either! Will you just. Hold. Still!”

“Felix? Is everything-”

SLAM!

Plagg turned to see the boy – Felix? – pressing his back against a door, a panicked look on his face. Hmmm, good reflexes. “Everything is fine!” Felix called, his voice squeaking a little. “I just dropped something!”

“Are you sure? Why won't you let me in?”

“It's nothing Adrien, just go back to bed.”

“But it sounded like you were talking to someone-”

“I SAID I'M FINE ADRIEN!”

“...OK. Night then.”

Plagg's sensitive ears picked up the shuffle of feet walking away from the door as his boy slumped in relief. Then green eyes turned back to him in a glare.

“What are you?” He hissed. “Where did you come from? And why are you here?”

“So many questions,” Plagg yawned. He supposed he could hold off on exploring for long enough to explain a few things. Plenty of time to scope out his new territory once the human he was stealing it from figured out who was in charge. “I already told you, I'm a kwami. I came from the Ring.”

“The ring?” Felix' eyes darted down to the dropped box, Plagg's Miraculous still sitting inside.

“And I am here,” Plagg said grandly. “To make you a superhero.”

There was a moment of silence while the two stared at each other, and Felix seemed to struggle to find his voice. “You're here to do what?”

Plagg made a point of lounging in mid-air, pretending he wasn't watching the boy's reaction. Would he be eager? Excited? Hesitant? Whatever he did next would tell Plagg a lot about his character. “I can grant you powers,” he said as casually as he could. “All you have to do is put on the Ring.”

Plagg's Kittens were always a gamble, and Plagg generally had to judge them on a case-by-case basis. Destruction was a heavy responsibility, after all. Not everyone suited to it could be trusted. This one's initial reaction was pretty boring though. He just stood there for a solid minute, blank faced and staring, then covered his face with his hands.

“OK,” he murmured. “OK, so, I'm dreaming. Should've realised it sooner, it explains everything. There was no rock monster, no spotted superhero, no butterflies turning people into statues. I'll wake up in a minute, and my room will be completely free of flying talking cats.” He peeked through his fingers. “Any minute now...”

Plagg gave him a flat look. “You're not dreaming kid. I told you, my name is Plagg. I'm a kwami, and I grant powers. Yours is the power of-”

“No.” Felix turned away. “This is not happening. There is no talking cat in my room offering me superpowers. I am not listening to this insanity. I am going to bed, and when I wake up everything will be back to normal.”

Plagg tilted his head and flew around so he could see the boys face. “Hate to break it to you kid, but 'normal' flew out the window when you picked up my Ring.”

“No,” Felix snapped, climbing into bed. “This isn't real. You are either a hallucination or a dream. Either way, I am going to sleep now.”

“But-”

“Good _night_.” And he pulled the blankets over his head.

Plagg bristled indignantly. How dare the insolent brat dismiss him like this! Plagg was ancient and powerful! He was once rightly worshipped as a god! “Hey!” He called, pulling at the blanket. “We're not done! Hey, kid! I'm talking to you!”

“I refuse to believe that my life has turned into an anime,” came the slightly muffled response. “Now shut up and leave me alone.”

Plagg pulled back and went quiet. He wasn't sure what an anime was, but he knew a rejection when he heard it. When was the last time he'd been met with outright refusal? He couldn't remember. Even his most cautious Kittens usually at least heard him out!

Plagg groaned, he hated when he was given to the cautious ones. They never wanted to go fight the things that needed fighting, which made it Plagg's job to poke and prod them into doing it anyway. This was going to be so much work! Fu was going to get an earful next time Plagg saw him.

Turning to look at the rest of the room, Plagg weighed his options. So. Many. Books. So much money, which meant access to so much cheese. It would be a shame to give that up. It might be necessary to give it up. The kid had said something about a spotted hero, so Tikki must already be active with her new wielder. She would need him. As nice as it would be to not have to bother, he couldn't leave his Sugar Cube to face this foe alone. (He couldn't abandon Nooroo, the poor butterfly must be suffering so much right now. Having your power abused was awful, he knew from experience.)

Whatever he was going to do would need to be done quickly. Felix either had to accept him, and everything that came with him, or Plagg would have to find some way to get back to Fu so he could pick someone else.

Floating over to the nearest shelf, he pulled a book out so it fell to the floor with a lovely _thud_. A glance over his shoulder showed no reaction from the boy in the bed. He smiled to himself. Nothing got results quite so quickly as annoying your victim to the point where they would agree to anything. And in his experience, nothing got under a human's skin faster than having all their things re-arranged.

Time to create a little chaos.

-x-

Felix woke to the usual polite knock on his bedroom door, and Natalie's voice calling, “Felix? Are you awake? It's time to be up now.”

He groaned, rolling over. “Yeah, I'm awake.” He kept his eyes closed for a moment, unwilling to fully let go of sleep just yet. Last night had not been very restful. He'd kept waking up thinking he could hear the definitely-not-real cat-thing moving around, making sounds that probably had a very different, more mundane explanation. Maybe he was hearing the night staff moving around, or Adrien had decided he just _had_ to have a particular book or something that couldn't wait until morning.

It was rare, but it had happened before.

Felix rolled out of bed with an annoyed huff. It hadn't even been real. He was too old to be so put out by a stupid (extremely vivid) dream. This would be just normal day, no different than any other. He would shower, join Adrien for breakfast, and-

“About time you woke up! Where do you keep the cheese? I'm starving!”

It was the cat-thing. The apparently-very-real cat-thing. Floating in front of his face. Being real. In his room. And if that was real, then the noises last night had been...

Looking past the floating cat-thing, (what had it called itself again?) Felix could only stare.

His room was a _mess._ His things were all over the floor, leaving most of the shelves empty. Books were stacked in haphazard piles, or lying open to random pages. Loose pages were strewn about everywhere, and for a moment he thought Plug (Plaque? It had been something like that) had ripped them out of one of the larger tomes. Closer inspection showed them to be his sheet music, which would take hours to gather back into the proper order. At best.

“Hello? Are you listening? I said I'm hungry!”

“You destroyed my room.” His voice sounded flat as his brain struggled to process what was happening. It was real. He hadn't dreamed it. There really was a tiny magical cat trying to talk him into being a superhero.

“I didn't destroy anything! I just... rearranged some stuff. I'm sure you could put it all back. Eventually.”

Felix stared blankly at the smirking cat-thing, his mind finally kicking back into gear. It had come from the ring in the box which had been in Adrien's room. It had said something about powers and demanded cheese. (Those two things probably weren't related.) Where had (Pluck? Plum?) it come from? Adrien mustn't know about it yet, or he would have been rushing off to fight instead of watching the news yesterday.

Wait. Adrien. Oh, Ade was going to _flip!_ This was several childhood dreams come true! Just wait until Felix told him.

_First things first. Priorities Felix._ “You  _destroyed_ my room.”

“Nothing is even broken! Will you get over it already and fetch me some cheese?”

Felix brushed past the cat-thing (he really needed to figure out what it was called) and said sternly, “If you want cheese you can clean up. Start with the sheet music, stack it neatly on my desk please.”

“Hey! Do I look like a maid to you?!”

Felix paused at the doorway to his private bathroom and glared over his shoulder. “You're the one that made the mess, and it's going to take me hours to put everything back the way it was. If you want to be fed, you  _will_ help me.” And then he stepped through, and shut the door. Hopefully that wouldn't come back to bite him too badly. If the annoying little gremlin was going to stick around, it needed to understand this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated, magic or not.

As he approached the shower he felt a smile spread across his face. It was magic. There was a magic cat-thing in his room, and  _it was going to give them super powers!_ Adrien was going to freak!

-x-

Plagg gaped at the door, the first true stirrings of unease running through him. He'd been expecting an explosion, shouting,  _something._ But there'd been nothing. The kid's face had been expressionless, his voice flat and cold. What was Fu thinking, giving him to this boy? Sure finding a good Ladybug was the priority, and the Black Cat had only been released to balance her, but surely a better candidate could have been found if the kid had this many red flags before even putting on the Ring!

Plagg floated down to settle next to his Ring, still sitting in the box on the floor. If the boy decided to keep him he would just have to make the best of it, and try to limit the damage like he always did when a Guardian messed up. Not like he wasn't used to taking the fall when his less-carefully chosen kittens went rogue.

“Tikki, wherever you are, your Bug had better be worth the trouble this is going to cause me.”


	5. Chapter 5

Felix ran the comb through his hair one final time, looking far calmer than he felt. His usual morning routine had done a great deal to settle him but his insides were still jittery. There was a magic cat-thing in his room. It was a life-changing event, and he needed to get as much information as he could before he told Adrien. One grin from his brother and he'd get swept away with their joint enthusiasm. He couldn't afford to let that happen. Not yet. Not before he got the cat-thing to explain why it was here, and what exactly it was offering them. He took a deep breath. Then another. There was no reason to be anxious. It was going to be fine.

Forcing his nerves down, Felix straitened his shoulders. He was an Agreste. Calm, poised, in control at all times. No matter who believed themselves to hold the power in any situation, he was the one in charge. Talking to a magic cat-thing was no different than talking to anyone else. He was in command here. He could do this.

Giving his reflection a final once-over to make sure the way his heart was pounding was not in evidence, he turned and opened the door.

Glancing around his room, Felix couldn't immediately see the small creature. His books and sheet music were still strewn about everywhere, and he was sure it had to still be here _somewhere_ but it was hard to pick anything in particular out of the mess. After a moment he spotted it's eyes glinting at him from down on the floor beside its' box. There was no evidence that it had tried to clean up at all.

Felix reminded himself he was in control, and raised an eye-brow at the cat-thing. It glared back.

Felix sighed. It was fine. He could handle this. “Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot,” he said calmly. “My name is Felix Agreste. I didn't quite catch yours last night?”

“I'm Plagg,” it declared, floating into the air and still glaring. “I'm a kwami, and I don't like repeating myself. So you better be paying attention this time.”

“Ah, right. Of course.” Felix cleared his throat, committing 'kwami' to his memory. “You said something about powers?”

Plagg folded its (his?) arms with huff. “If you put the Ring on, I can share my power with you. Or, I can give you directions on how to get rid of it. You'll never hear from me again.”

Felix nodded in acknowledgement and walked forward, carefully picking his way across the room to avoid stepping on any of his books. He reached down to pick up the box, hoping Plagg didn't notice the slight tremble in his fingers. The ring was solid back, except for a bright green paw-print on it's flat surface. A simple signet ring, distinctive but plain, and unremarkable. Except that it was _magic._ Felix felt his lips twitch as he suppressed a grin. “What sort of powers are we talking about?”

“Destruction. There are some limits, but basically you can destroy anything you touch.”

Felix rolled that around his head for a moment. Destroying things sounded more like a villain's power than a hero's, but he could think of several situations where it might be useful. “What are the limits?”

“You can only use it once per transformation, and after you have five minutes before you turn back to normal.”

Transformation? Like 'Moon Prism Power' type transformation? His mind flashed back to when they'd been eight, and Adrien had tried on Chloe's Sailor Moon cosplay. _Focus Felix._ “What about scale? Is what I touch destroyed outright? Could I just weaken something? How big of a thing could I effect? Or how small?”

“One question at a time!” Plagg grumbled. “Size isn't an issue. Big, small, the whole thing, half, how much you destroy depends on you.”

Felix hummed his understanding and plucked the ring from its box. He would have to practise using this power to make sure he knew how to control it. It wouldn't do to accidentally bring down a building or something. He set the box on his night-stand and slipped the ring on his finger. A perfect fit. “Anything else I should know about?”

Plagg considered the question for a moment, eyes narrowed slightly. “You'll be physically stronger when transformed. Faster. And it comes with a weapon – an extendable staff.”

Felix nodded slowly, fighting back a wave of excitement. Transformations and powers and villains to fight, Adrien was going to make so many anime jokes. Felix was giddily thinking of parallels to a few of their favourites himself. But he had to remember that this wasn't a show. It was real life, and real life generally didn't have the courtesy to warn you when there were strings attached.

“...What's the catch?”

Plagg cocked his head.”The catch?”

“Nothing is free,” Felix said firmly. “Everything has a price. So what is this going to cost me?”

A slow smile stretched across Plagg's face and his eyes gleamed greedily. Felix braced himself and tried not to gulp. Whatever the kwami asked for was bound to be valuable. Hopefully it wouldn't be something stupid or impractical, like his firstborn. Or assisting in conquering some magical realm. Or finding a lost treasure from-

“Cheese.”

Felix blinked. “What?”

“I want cheese. Now would be good.”

Felix stared, and just barely managed to stop himself from gaping. Did he hear that right? “...You want to give me superpowers...in exchange for cheese.”

“Preferably Camembert, but any cheese will do in a pinch.”

He couldn't be serious. There was no way he was serious. Why would anything exchange any kind of power just for cheese? Albeit very expensive cheese. It didn't make any sense! Food was not equal to superpowers! Was Plagg just hungry or some- oh. Oh, right. He had said something about that earlier hadn't he? And last night, come to think of it.

“That's not what I meant,” he sighed. “If you're staying then of course I'll feed you, but what are you getting out of this deal?”

“You mean besides a lot of cheese?”

“Yes Plagg, I mean besides the cheese.”

“Nothing. The deal is that you agree to give me cheese and fight the bad guy, and I give you powers. What more could I want?”

Felix frowned. It had to be about more than food. Perhaps it had something to do with the 'bad guy'? Before he could open his mouth to ask, Plagg turned and dashed under his bed. Or rather, through his bed. Felix was still blinking at the spot where he disappeared when his door opened.

“Felix? Why haven't you come down for...”

Natalie trailed off and looked around at the mess on his floor, her expression unreadable. Meeting his eyes, she gave him a pointedly disproving look.

“Umm, research frenzy.” Felix blurted with a wince. Oh, he was going to make Plagg pay for this. Natalie did not look like she was buying it at _all._ “I'm sorry Natalie, I'll make sure to get everything put away before bed tonight.”

“See that you do.” She replied primly. “Your breakfast is waiting. Have you seen your brother this morning?”

“No Natalie.”

She nodded briskly and turned to continue down the hall to Adrien's room.

“Wow. You're gonna need to get a _lot_ better at making excuses for stuff.”

Felix turned and glared at Plagg, who was now lounging on his pillow.

“OK,” he hissed. “Here's how this is going to work. I'm going down to breakfast now. When I come back, I will give you cheese. Then we will clean up this mess. In fact, since you're responsible for it you can get started while I'm gone. I want you to stack my sheet music neatly on my desk, understand?”

“...Do I get extra cheese?”

Felix grit his teeth. “As much as you can manage of one entire wheel.” That seemed like a reasonable bribe. There was no way something that tiny would be able to eat the whole thing, and he'd have the rest on hand to feed it again later so he wouldn't have to keep sending down for more.

“Fine,” Plagg huffed. “But don't expect me to be so cheaply bought next time.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “We'll discuss the rest of the details later.” He turned and stepped out of his room, just in time for Natalie to come storming back down the hall with an aggravated mutter of, “Not again!”

-x-

Adrien slipped around the corner and grinned to himself when the school came into view. Yesterday he'd been ready to give up, and resigned himself to being alone and isolated in his own house, but not today. Today things were different. Today Paris had its very own real life super-heroine, who had fought a real life super-villain. Today anything was possible. This time he would make it into school for sure.

A small voice in the back of his head whispered that Felix should have been coming with him, but he pushed it away. Talking with Felix about Ladybug had been nice, and for a few hours he'd been able to pretend everything was normal. But his brother had made it clear last night that nothing had really changed. Felix still didn't want him around, and Father still didn't have time for them, and Mother was-

He pushed the thought away.

Adrien hurried up the steps to the school, letting his excitement build. This time he was going to make it. This time he'd get to experience school as more than just a setting in a show. This time-

“Adrien! Don't do this, you father will be furious!”

It was Natalie and Gorilla with the car again. Adrien suppressed a small twinge of guilt. Natalie was probably going to get in trouble when she came back without him, but he was too close to give up now. “Tell him you got here too late,” he begged. “Please.” He turned and ran inside before she could reply. She didn't follow him.

The school was just how he'd imagined it. There were crowds of kids milling around the courtyard, talking and laughing and catching up with friends. Adrien felt a grin stretch across his face. He was going to be one of those kids. He was going to talk to people, and make friends, and be normal for once. He couldn't wait.

Adrien forced himself to (heh) school his expression into a much smaller smile and straightened his clothes. Now that he was here, all he had to do was find Chloe so she could show him around. This was going to be great!

After another moment of observation he spotted Chloe standing with a group of other kids, just as a larger boy got up and walked away. Were those her friends? Would they like him? How long would it take before he could call them his friends too? Smothering another grin, he walked forward.

“Hey Chloe.”

“Adrikins! You came!”

-x-

Felix stalked back toward his room, revolting cheese in hand, and seethed. Natalie had arrived back a few minutes ago without Adrien and told him there would be no school work today. Instead he could focus on cleaning up the mess 'he' had made in his room.

Stupid annoying kwami. He'd better come through on the super powers.

But what really bothered him was that Ade had run off again. Without telling him _again._ What had gone wrong? Yesterday they'd been talking and laughing together, like they always did. Things had finally started going back to normal! And yet here he was, with this amazing thing to tell his brother, and no Adrien in sight.

Well fine. If Ade wanted to sneak around and keep secrets, Felix wouldn't share either. The magic ring was on _his_ finger, after all. It hardly mattered to _him_ if Ade missed out. He'd tell his twin what was going on in a week or two. Or a month. Maybe.

For now he would put Adrien out of his mind, and give Plagg his disgusting meal. Then maybe he could try out these powers he was promised... After he cleaned up the mess Plagg had made of his room. At lest he should have time to get the fine print off the kwami while he put his books away. Felix sighed, and reached to open his bedroom door.


	6. Chapter 6

“ _I told you, I'm not cut out to be Ladybug. I'm sorry Tikki.”_

“ _No! Don't do tha-”_

Floating in the void, Tikki wondered where everything had gone wrong. Had she pushed too hard? Not hard enough? If hindsight was all knowing, then why didn't she know the answer? And why hadn't Plagg shown up to the fight? Her bugs weren't supposed to stand alone...

_Plagg, where are you? My bug really needs your kitten's support right now._

_I need you._

_Please hurry._

-x-

Marinette bit her lip and wondered (again) if she was doing the right thing. Yesterday had been a disaster. She messed up. She messed up _so badly._ All those poor people, and their families! She couldn't imagine what they must be going through. She hadn't cleansed the akuma like Tikki had said, she let all those people be turned into stone statues, because she failed. _Ladybug_ had failed.

So why did everyone still believe in her? It seemed to be all anyone could talk about today. Ladybug would save them, they had to trust her, she would protect them all. Ladybug, Ladybug, Ladybug. How disappointed would everyone be if they knew Ladybug was clumsy, awkward Marinette? They were waiting for a super heroine, a guardian angel, but under the mask Ladybug was just a normal girl. Marinette couldn't protect them, couldn't save them, she had proven that yesterday. But everyone was still waiting on her to fix things somehow.

She had no idea where to start. Maybe the partner Tikki had mentioned would know, but they had never shown up to the fight. What was she supposed to do? Tikki had told her she was the chosen one, but there had obviously been a mistake. There was no way whatever higher power handed out these magical earrings actually meant for the clumsiest girl on the planet to get them. The responsible thing to do would be to give them to someone more qualified.

Right?

“Alya? Wouldn't you like to be a super hero, and go out to fight monsters and villains?”

“Totally! I'm not scared of anyone. Why?”

“Oh! No reason.”

She pulled the box containing the earrings out of her bag, and hesitated. Paris needed Ladybug to save them, but she didn't have to be Marinette, right? Everyone would be better off with someone more competent filling the role. Tikki would understand. Alya was strong and confident, she would make a great Ladybug. Better than Marinette. It was for the best.

Decision made, she slipped the box into Alya's bag.

-x-

“ _Hey! What are you doing!...OK, I get it. Good job you three, very funny...You're friends with Chloe, right?”_

Adrien slumped in his seat and stole a glance at the pretty girl sitting across the isle from him. What had he done wrong? He really had been trying to help. Was is really just because he knew Chloe? He knew she wasn't always the nicest person, but was she really bad enough for him to be shunned by association? He just wanted to make friends! Maybe coming to school had been a waste of time...

“Why didn't you tell them it was Chloe's idea?”

Adrien glanced over at the boy beside him. The one who had also dismissed him immediately because he came in with Chloe. At least he was talking to him now. “I've known Chloe since I was a little kid. I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's like my only friend.” The only one besides Felix, anyway. He wished for a moment he'd dragged his brother out with him. Fe might have been grumpy about it but at least he would have someone on his side. Why did Chloe have to do that to him? She knew how much it meant for him to be here!

A hand was pushed into his line of sight. “I'm Nino, and it's time for you to make some new friends, dude.”

Adrien looked up in surprise, then smiled and shook Nino's hand. Maybe coming to school wasn't a complete waste of time after all.

Two minutes later roll call was interrupted by the golem from yesterday bursting through the classroom door.

-x-

Felix grit his teeth and reminded himself (again) that he was in control. He was not going to murder the magical menace, he was not going to shout, he was not going to let it get to him. He was capable of having a calm, polite discussion with the annoyance. “Where did you hide it?”

“I didn't hide it, I ate it!” Plagg snapped indignantly. “You said I could!”

“That cheese was almost as big as you are, there's no way you ate all of it.”

“Did too! Bring me another and I'll prove it!”

_Stay calm Felix._ “I'm not giving you any more until you tell me where you hid this one.”

“I didn't hide it, I ate it!”

“Look, I know you can't have eaten the whole wheel of cheese in the two seconds my back was turned. Just tell me where you put it before it stinks up my whole room, and I won't bring it up again.”

“I put it in my mouth and swallowed it.”

“I can tell you're lying. Your stomach isn't even distended.”

“I'm not a mortal being! This isn't even my true form! I could eat five times as much and it wouldn't be visible!”

Felix heard his phone _ding_ with a text notification and ignored it. Whatever it was probably wasn't important anyway. “What do you mean not your true form?”

“I am Destruction! I am immense, and powerful, and ancient! This body is just an illusionary construct so we can interact.”

Felix ignored another _ding_ from his phone. “If your body is an illusion, why do you need to eat?”

“It's a very complex illusion. Taking physical form uses a lot of energy, and food is the easiest way to replace it.” His phone chimed again. “What's making that noise?”

Felix sighed. The kwami's explanation _almost_ made sense, and was probably all he was going to get for now. “It's just my phone,” he muttered, picking it up. If Natalie was texting him that much it was probably urgent. Might as well see what she wanted.

He unlocked his phone and read the three messages.

_Felix turn on the news_

_The golem thing is back and it grabbed Chloe_

_I have to do something_

Felix stood frozen for a moment. These weren't from Natalie. Another message popped up.

_There's more of them than yesterday. I can't see the one with Chloe anymore_

Felix' fingers flew over his phone keyboard. _Get away from there! Hide!_

“What's wrong? You look like someone just told you the cheese caught fire.”

Ignoring Plagg, Felix dashed through the closet he shared with Adrien, and into his brother's room. He snatched up the remote and turned on the TV as his phone chimed again.

_I have to help! If they kill me give Chloe my Sailor Moon collection_

Felix stared at the words _'if they kill me'_ and cursed his brother's terrible sense of humour. The news was showing footage of the stone statues coming to life, chasing people, and Adrien was out there somewhere, in the middle of it.

_I mean it Ade, get out of there! Keep yourself safe_

“What are you waiting for?” Felix jumped, and realised for the first time that Plagg had followed him. The little cat-thing was looking at him solemnly. “This is why I'm here, to help you fight these things. Are you going to get out there, or do I have to waste time finding someone else who will?”

Felix flicked his gaze between Plagg, the TV, and his phone, trying not to panic. Adrien was out there, he could be being attacked right now, he could be hurt!

He dialled his brother's number and listened to it ring.

“Hello! Did you hear me? I said it's time to go!”

No answer. He shot off another text. _Ade? Please answer me. Let me know you're safe_

“Hey! Stop ignoring me!” Plagg flew up into Felix' face and scowled. “Decision time kid, are you in or out?”

In or out? Was Plagg joking? He couldn't fight those things! He didn't have nearly enough information to make an informed decision. When did his life decide to go insane, and _why wasn't Ade answering him!!_

_Because he can't,_ his brain supplied helpfully.  _He's gotten himself caught or hurt or at best lost his phone. Who knows what state he's in?_

Yesterday just one of those things had toppled a building, and now there were dozens. And Adrien was out there. Someone had to do something. Why wasn't someone doing something? Where was that superhero girl from yesterday? Why wasn't she out there saving his brother?

Why wasn't he?

Felix hesitated for another half second. “I... I'm in,” he said firmly. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Claws out to transform. Claws in to de-transform. And your power is Cataclysm.”

“Claws out? What kind of- GAH!

It was like some invisible force grabbed his wrist and yanked it up over his head. He saw Plagg fly into the ring and disappear, and then the invisible whatever-it-was yanked his arm down again. His hand moved smoothly past his face, just barely touching his nose, then brushed across his body from shoulder to hip.

Warmth spread from where his fingers touched, followed by an electric jolt. The electricity burrowed beneath the surface, making his whole body tingle. Finally something _zinged_ up his spine, making him toss his head back as something settled in his hair.

Felix held very still as the tingling sensation faded, hardly daring to breathe as he glanced down at himself. The...suit?..looked like leather, and felt almost like a second skin. He shook himself. No time to admire the magical transformation. Ade needed him.

He took a step toward the door, before realising he couldn't go out that way looking like this. So he turned to the window, threw it open, and jumped out, landing on the wall surrounding their property. Another leap saw him to the roof across the street, and he passed over two more rooftops before he fully realised what he was doing.

_No time,_ he told himself.  _Worry about the how later, you have a job to do._ Another rooftop passed by in a blur.  _Hang on Ade, I'm coming._

-x-

Marinette panted a little as she chased after Alya. Why couldn't she just take her bag with her when she ran off? If she could just catch up, 'accidentally' spill the contents of the bag, then Alya could find the earrings and Ladybug would be able to help.

_Ladybug would get there sooner if I just put the earrings back on myself._ No! Alya would be a better Ladybug, she was doing the right thing. She was!

Rounding the corner, Marinette was relieved to see Alya had stopped running. She was instead crouched at the side of the road, phone held up to film the chaos around her. She was about to step forward to try and get Alya's attention when one of the Stoneheart copies seemed to realise they had an audience and picked up a car.

Marinette stood frozen as time seemed to slow. The car was flying straight for Alya's head. She couldn't do anything, she was too far away, not fast enough. Alya was going to _die_ and she was just going to stand here and watch it happen, she couldn't do anything!

_Ladybug could have done something._

_This is all my fault._

“Watch out!” A blonde blur tackled Alya to the ground, and the car landed with a crash on top of them both. The Stoneheart copies turned and continued stomping down the street. Marinette hardly dared to breathe.

“Hello? Is anybody out there?”

“Help! We're stuck!”

Marinette felt something loosen in her chest, and she could breathe again. They were OK. They were alive! Just stuck. She could still fix this, it was going to be OK.

Ducking back around the corner, she took the box back from Alya's bag. She'd wasted too much time already trying to pass her mistake off to someone else. Paris needed Ladybug, and she would not disappoint them again.


	7. Chapter 7

Adrien was having the most bizarrely wonderful day of his life.

He'd made it to school, and made at least one new friend, and now he was running after who he hoped might be another new friend as she tried (again) to film everything going on around them. If he counted Felix and Chloe from before, and Nino and Alya now, that was a 100% increase! _And_ they'd been rescued by Ladybug herself! Sure having the car land on them earlier had been scary, but even with the gum incident this morning it was a net gain so Adrien thought it was definitely worth it.

Even if his new friend was maybe a little crazy.

“This is Alya Cesaire of the Ladyblog, coming to you live from the streets of Paris. The stone statues from yesterday have all come to life and seem to be heading in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug is out and about, working hard to rescue anyone unfortunate enough to run afoul of these 'stone beings'. I'll update you with more details when I have them! Alya signing off!”

“Maybe we should head inside,” Adrien suggested when Alya had put her phone away. “Ladybug said to go somewhere safe, and I don't think this is quite what she had in mind.”

“You go,” Alya said, waving him off. “I _cannot_ miss this.”

“I'm not leaving you out here alone!”

“Then get moving Agreste, because I'm following those things.” And she took off running.

Adrien ran after her, easily keeping pace. Felix would be mad when he made it home, but he felt like he had to do this. He hadn't been able to help Chloe, to protect her, but maybe he could still keep Alya safe. _I hope you're OK Clo._ “Fine,” he huffed. “But if we end up running for our lives later don't say I didn't warn you...”

-x-

Felix leapt across another rooftop and resolutely pushed down the part of his brain gibbering that what he was doing should not be physically possible. Plagg had said he would be stronger, it was supposed to happen, no need to freak out. It didn't stop his heart from racing every time he took another jump across a gap that logic dictated he should not be able to make, with a drop that would kill him if he fell short. He paused to breathe for a moment, letting his heartbeat slow a little. He was OK, he wasn't going to fall, what he was doing was perfectly reasonable. He just had to find Adrien, make sure he didn't get crushed by these golem things, and go back home before anyone thought to check that he was still there. No big deal.

Someone shouted in the street below, and he felt something on top of his head twitched toward the sound.

Running a hand over his hair revealed two...protrusions. (Cat ears?) They didn't feel like they were attached, but they were moving like they were. He would have to check in a mirror when he got home, but in the meantime he had better things to be doing than rescue some random idiot girl who couldn't grasp the concept of 'stay inside were it's safe'. So what if she was hurt? He didn't even know this person! It didn't matter to him what happened to them.

_It would have mattered to Mother though, and Adrien would be disappointed. In fact, if Ade were here he would probably already be over there, helping-_

“Y'know, I hate to say I told you so but-”

“Less gloating more running!”

Adrien!

He whipped around and searched the street. Ade was running with a girl Felix didn't know, chased by two of the golems. The golems were steadily gaining ground.

Felix swallowed and weighed his options. If he jumped over to that roof he could drop down to the awning, and from there he could-

The girl shrieked as she tripped, Adrien turning back to help her up with the golems almost on top of them.

Felix bolted forward, launching himself toward the golems and somehow managed to land on the leader's head. His momentum caused it to topple forward, and he rolled away as the one behind tripped over it.

Adrien and the girl stared at him. He glanced behind himself at where the two monsters were sprawled in a heap, struggling to get back up. _Well, as far as superhero entrances went that probably wasn't bad._ The threat was neutralised for now, so he let himself breath as he turned back.

“Are you OK?”

The girl seemed to snap out of whatever daze she was in and rushed over to him, phone in hand.

“That was amazing! Are you another super hero? Are you here to help Ladybug? Where did you come from? What's your name? If you're working with Ladybug does that make you Black Cat?”

Felix wrinkled his nose in distaste. Black Cat? In English? What kind of lame name would that be? But he hadn't had chance to come up with something himself so he just snapped back, “Do I sound English to you? You need to get inside, it's not safe out here.”

As if to illustrate his point, one of the golems managed to stagger to its feet and started to lunge toward them again. Without thinking, Felix ran forward and grabbed Adrien. They were on a roof half a block away before he realised his brother was yelling for him to go back and get 'Alya'. Setting his brother down with a groan, Felix did as bid and went back for the girl.

“...and this mysterious Chat Noir is on the scene rescuing civilians from these rocky monsters. Paris now has two heroes! You heard it here first!”

Was she trying to play _news anchor?_ While being _attacked?!_

Felix grabbed her (far less gently than he had grabbed Adrien) and took her to the same roof he'd left his brother on. “There, now you should be safe. Stay up here until things die down, alright?”

“What about you? Are you going to help Ladybug defeat these things?”

Felix looked at his brother and bit back his first response. He should really be getting home before someone thought to come check on him. He had in fact intended to do exactly that once he was sure Ade was OK, he wasn't stupid or suicidal. But...

He'd passed at least a dozen gloems on his way here, one person wasn't going to be enough to stop that many enemies. (Neither were two people, but maybe there were others who just hadn't shown up yet, like him.) So long as the golems were out here his family would be in danger, and Plagg had been pretty clear that this was what these powers were for. The annoying gremlin probably wouldn't take well to Felix ignoring the rest of the city. “...Do you know which way she went?”

“Toward the Eiffel Tower,” the girl – Alya – chimed in. “All the stone people were heading that way too.” Felix noted with annoyance that she was still filming. He wouldn't put it past her to rush down the fire escape as soon as he left, and drag Ade along with her. He was _not_ going to let that happen.

“You!” He snapped, pointing at Adrien. “You are in charge of making sure this one-” he pointed at Alya, “-doesn't try to get down before it's safe.” If Ade was keeping the girl out of trouble he was less likely to get in trouble himself, which would be one less thing for Felix to worry about. “We can't afford to waste time rescuing random idiots from getting themselves hurt. Understand?”

“Yes sir!” Adrien, the dork, actually tried to salute, a grin bubbling under the surface of his 'serious face'. Felix forced back a smile. He was going to tease his brother so badly for this later, but for now...

If he was going to do the whole 'super hero' thing, he may as well do it properly.

He turned and took off in the direction of the Eiffel Tower.

-x-

Ladybug swung herself up to another rooftop and paused to look around. After a good fifteen minutes of rescuing people from getting trampled she'd figured out all the Stoneheart copies were heading in the same direction – towards the Eiffel Tower. She took a breath, trying to stay calm. She had messed up yesterday, but she was gonna fix it now. She was Ladybug. She would find the akuma, she would capture it, and she would make everything better, just like Tikki said. It would be OK.

She turned her head and caught a glimpse of a dark shadow a few rooftops away, coming closer. Ladybug felt her heart-rate pick up. There was no way that was a normal person, not with the way they were moving, and it was too small and agile to be one of the copies. Tikki had told her the akuma were just victims of the real villain, the one sending out the corrupted butterflies. Was this another victim sent to keep her occupied while the other akuma did its job? Or had the puppetmaster himself come out to play? She turned and started running to the left, pausing to glance back and change directions every minute or so, moving in a wide circle around the Tower. The shadow followed, steadily gaining ground.

Ducking behind a chimney Ladybug did her best to stay absolutely still. She would only get one shot at this, if she could just time it right...

Feet landed on her rooftop and she threw the yoyo out. The string tangled around her pursuer, causing them to loose their balance and fall over the edge with a yelp. Ladybug grinned in triumph. Success! She let the string trail around the chimney and jumped down.

The shadow turned out to be a blond boy around her age. He was dressed all in black, with fake cat ears and a mask, and a large gold bell at his throat. He was hissing and struggling against his bindings, but his attention snapped to her when she dropped down in front of him.

“What do you think you're doing!” He spat. “Let me go!”

“Not a chance! Why were you following me?”

He growled. “I _was_ going to offer to help, but if this is how you treat an ally I'm going home!”

“Ally?” Ladybug asked, puzzled. She didn't have any allies. There was only her, and Tikki, and the villain they had to fight. While it was true Tikki had said she would have help, her mysterious partner hadn't even shown up yester- “Oh my gosh, you're my partner!”

“Will you put me down already!?”

“Sorry, I'm sorry!” Marinette tugged at the yoyo string, trying to untangle it from the boy. “I thought you were another akuma or something, let me just-” the string started unwinding. “-Got it!”

Unfortunately the boy was still upside down, so when the yoyo whizzed up out of sight he was dropped right on his head. “Ow!”

“Sorry!” Marinette cringed. “I didn't mean to drop you like that!” This was a disaster! He was never going to work with her now! He would go home and leave her to fight alone, and she would fail, and Paris would be destroyed, and whoever the bad guy was would take over the world! (Or something like that, who even knew what the villain wanted anyway?) “I'm just-”

The yoyo dropped out of the sky and beaned the boy on the head.

“-clumsy. So very, very clumsy. Are you OK?”

“I'm fine,” he grit out through clenched teeth. “I'm sure the pounding will stop eventually.”

“Sorry.” Marinette mumbled again. So much for doing a better job than yesterday.

The boy glared up at her for a moment. “Whatever,” he huffed, standing. “I'm here to help if you need me. Do we have a plan? Or any other backup?”

“I- I don't think so?” Marinette fidgeted nervously. “Tikki said – that's my kwami – she said it was just me and my partner. You. It's just us.” She shook her head. “Didn't your kwami explain anything?”

“Not really, he was more interested in demanding cheese then telling me anything useful.” He folded his arms and frowned at her. “If we're going to do this we should get on with it. Preferably before anyone has chance to realise we're missing. Those things are heading for the Tower, aren't they? That's where you were going?”

“Um, yes. They seem to be.” Marinette straightened. “But I have no idea why.”

“Then perhaps we should find out.” He gestured her forward. “After you, miss.”

She bit her lip, then nodded and started toward the Tower. He was right, they were wasting time. “It's Ladybug,” she called back over her shoulder. “You don't need to be so formal. What's your name?”

He didn't answer as he followed behind her, and Marinette almost thought perhaps he hadn't heard. They were almost to the Tower before he spoke up.

“Just call me Chat.”


End file.
